Click above to hear the extended 16 and a half minute interview; click below for the 2 and a half minute radio version.

First things first: Where did Meathead get his name? In the audio clips above, he tells WGN’s Steve Alexander his dad gave it to him. Not at birth, though. It was after he and his dad watched “All in the Family,” the ’70s TV series where Archie Bunker dubbed his new son-in-law “Meathead” because of his polar opposite political and social beliefs. “Dad and I were on opposite sides of the political fence,” says Meathead. “He was no Archie Bunker–he wasn’t a bigot–but I was a young, liberal college kid, and when I got into cooking professionally, Meathead just kind of stuck.”

Chicago’s very own Meathead has a new cookbook, his second. The first was the bestselling Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling. His new book is The Meathead Method: A BBQ Hall of Famer’s Secrets and Science on BBQ, Grilling and Outdoor Cooking. He sees it as much a science book as it is a cookbook. In its 400 pages, he teaches why and how to elevate all your cooking, outdoors and indoors. He busts myths, teaches science, shares hot tips, and introduces new methods, tools, ingredients, and recipes. And he isn’t kidding when he says “Almost anything you can cook indoors you can cook outdoors–only better.” One example: fried chicken. “It’s a bloody mess. It spatters all over the counter top, it gets all over the floor, it sets off the smoke alarm, the house stinks for a week.” Instead, he says, “You go out back, turn on your gas grill. Turn one burner on high, leave the other burners off. Put a Dutch oven on the side with the burner, put in two inches of oil. When it hits 350, you put in your chicken. You want to roll it around in flour, or corn starch or egg white, do all that. After about 15 minutes, you’ve got beautiful fried chicken, and who cares if it spatters, who cares if it smokes?”

Among the many myths he busts is the popular Chicago Beer Can Chicken. “No doubt about it, a whole golden chicken sitting on its butt like Buddha is delicious looking. And it absolutely is delicious, because it is a roasted chicken and roasted chicken is a culinary wonder. But the beer can has nothing to do with its wondrousness, and in fact, it keeps the chicken from reaching its pinnacle.” He goes on to explain why and concludes with: “Whoever thought this up musta had one too many.”

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Along with the science, the “why,” there’s plenty of “how.” There are dozens of recipes for beef, bison, pork, poultry, veggies, fruit, side dishes, bread, soup, sauces, rubs, desserts, and more. Plus, he includes instructions on how to cook on every type of grill, including charcoal, gas, wood, wood pellet, and electric, and the various types of implements you’ll need to be the master of your backyard BBQ domain.

It’s beautifully illustrated. “Ooh, ooh,” exclaimed Meathead. “Can I tell you something? I did all the photography. I got my Masters at the Art Institute of Chicago. I’m a photographer. I’m very proud of that.”

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Meathead is the founder of AmazingRibs.com.

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Click below to hear the audio.